1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to cable modem communications; and, more particularly, it relates to cable modem systems that provide network services to a number of cable modem users.
2. Related Art
Cable modem (CM) communication systems have been under continual development for the last several years. There has been development to try to provide for improvements in the manner in which communications between the CM users and a cable modem termination system (CMTS) is performed. Many of these prior art approaches seek to perform and provide broadband network access to a number of CM users.
CM communication systems are realized when a cable company offers network access, typically Internet, access over the cable. This way, the Internet information can use the same cables because the CM communication system puts downstream data, sent from the Internet to an individual computer having CM functionality, into a communication channel having a 6 MHz capacity. The reverse transmission is typically referred to as upstream data, information sent from an individual back to the Internet, and this typically requires even less of the cable's bandwidth. Some estimates say only 2 MHz are required for the upstream data transmission, since the assumption is that most people download far more information than they upload.
Putting both upstream and downstream data on the cable television system requires two types of equipment: a cable modem on the customer end and the CMTS at the cable provider's end. Between these two types of equipment, all the computer networking, security and management of Internet access over cable television is put into place. This intervening region may be referred to as a CM network segment, and a variety of problems can occur to signals sent across this CM network segment. One particular problem is the effects of multi-path. This multi-path degradation may be viewed as being an attenuated, shifted (delayed) replica of a signal that is transmitted within the cable that resides in the CM network segment. The multi-path degradation, along with other undesirable signal modifying effects, can significantly reduce the ability to maximize the full bandwidth potential of the CM communication system. This may result in slower service to CM users, which may lead these users to seek Internet access elsewhere. There is continually an ever-increasing desire to maximize the throughput of communication systems, and CM communication systems are no exception. The undesirable effects of multi-path, along with other interference generating effects within channel segments within the CM communication system, produce significantly degraded performance of the overall system.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional systems will become apparent to one of skill in the art through comparison of such systems with the invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.